Eye on Extremism: October 30, 2026
Top Stories
AFP: Iran’s IRGC says two tankers halted after ‘incidents’ in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says two oil tankers have been halted after encountering unspecified “incidents” while attempting to transit what Tehran considers an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz.
Jewish psychologists who raised concerns about antisemitism within the American Psychological Association say a new congressional report validates their experiences but leaves them fearful of professional backlash, as they call on the group to acknowledge the harm and rebuild trust.
CEP Mentions
BR24: Investigator: Belarusians allegedly planned attack in Langenfeld
Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the transatlantic research organization Counter Extremism Project (CEP), believes Russia is the mastermind. He observes an aggressive campaign by Moscow against Europe, with Germany targeted because of its political and economic power as well as its support for Ukraine. “We are in a very active hybrid scenario, triggered by Russia, against us. And that's why we essentially need to rethink all defense and deterrence measures,” he demanded.
An April 2025 investigation by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) documents extremist instructional material appearing on a mainstream social media platform. CEP researchers identified a pro-Islamic State TikTok account that posted six videos between February and April 2025. The material included explosive-related instructional content associated with a pro-ISIS media organization.
SRF: How Switzerland became the hub of the neo-Nazi network
Music is central, says right-wing extremism researcher Alexander Ritzmann from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP). But: “Blood and Honour” is far more than a right-wing extremist music promoter. “It’s a neo-Nazi organization trying to grow, recruit, and spread its ideology.” Calls for violence and, in some cases, violence itself are part of that.
Ferret: Scottish neo-Nazi fight club hosted activist who threatened to rape politician’s wife
“The meeting with Jeremy MacKenzie illustrates the international networking of the violence-oriented extreme right,” which can “facilitate the exchange of ideas” and foster “more capable local extremist networks,” said Alexander Ritzmann, a senior CEP advisor.
United States
Wired: ICE Is Running One of the Largest Anti-Left Surveillance Operations in US History
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations is engaged in far-reaching spying against left-wing activists that rivals the FBI and CIA crackdowns on the Civil Rights and anti-war movements.
Courthouse News Service: DOJ charges ‘El Ingeniero’ with terrorism in cross-border tunnel case
The Department of Justice announced terrorism charges on Thursday against a Mexican man it says helped engineer a tunnel underneath the U.S.-Mexico border.
CBS News: Mohamed Soliman changes plea to guilty on federal charges in Boulder firebombing attack
The man who already pleaded guilty to more than 100 state criminal charges, including first-degree murder, for an attack on the Pearl Street Mall in June 2025, appeared in federal court on Thursday, where he changed his plea to guilty on a dozen charges.
Detroit Free Press: Antisemitism, Islamophobia and the lines of attack against El-Sayed
With less than a week to go, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed heads into the Nov. 3 election continuing to face two persistent lines of attack against his candidacy.
A new report from the Muslim Public Affairs Council (Mpac) expresses concern about the escalation of far-right, anti-Muslim provocateurs in the US, whose actions often result in calls for increased law enforcement presence and could therefore end up dissuading Muslim Americans from voting in the midterm elections on 3 November.
WEMU: Voters in Dearborn see rise in Islamophobia amidst crucial U.S. Senate race
Michigan’s U.S. Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has rekindled Islamophobia in the state. The rhetoric has some voters concerned and determined.
When American forces killed one of the architects of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed criticized then-President Joe Biden, accusing him of using the operation to boost his political standing rather than focusing on the significance of the strike.
A police investigation is underway after a student at a Long Island middle school posted an antisemitic photo on social media. The photo shows the student from Merrick Avenue Middle School with a large swastika drawn on his back and with “[expletive] the Jews” scrawled in marker.
An outspoken educator once lauded and entrusted by the Philadelphia School District to direct the social studies curriculum is fighting to keep his job as the district faces sustained political pressure over allegations of stoking anti-Israel sentiment.
KJZZ: Mesa business refuses to print ‘Protect White Americans’ sign for right-wing group
The owner of a Mesa sign shop is incurring the wrath of a right-wing group over his refusal to print signs for them. The group College Republicans United, which is different from College Republicans, has ordered signs saying “Protect White Americans.” But the store’s owner, who’s also a Town Council member in Gilbert, said he wouldn’t print them.
JNS: Police probe Nazi swastika on Jewish NY candidate’s campaign sign as hate crime
Newburgh, N.Y., a town of about 31,825 located some 70 miles north of Manhattan, is probing a Nazi swastika on a campaign sign as a hate crime, its police chief told JNS.
WBTV: Charlotte man federally charged for mailing out antisemitic material with his name on envelope
A Charlotte man is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he mailed threatening, antisemitic letters to several Jewish organizations and individuals across the country. Jail records show 58-year-old Brian Charles was arrested in September.
Canada
Peterborough Examiner: Assault charge laid against Peterborough white nationalist Kevin Goudreau
Peterborough white nationalist Kevin Goudreau appeared in court this week, where trial dates were set for next year on charges that include allegations he threatened a same-sex couple and a human rights lawyer.
Toronto Star: Man gets more than 16 years in prison for Islamic State knife attack on B.C. bus
A man has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for slashing a bus passenger’s throat in Surrey, B.C., in 2023, in what prosecutors say was a terrorist attack.
Argentina
JTA: Spanish dictionary defies judge’s order to stop defining ‘Jewish’ as ‘miserly’
Two years after an Argentine judge ordered a Spanish dictionary to drop a definition of “Jewish” as “miserly or usurious,” the institution responsible for the dictionary has yet to comply — frustrating the Jewish groups that brought the case.
Czech Republic
A new human rights monitoring report published has formally confirmed a massive, unprecedented surge in antisemitism across Czechia following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
France
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office clarified on Thursday that the schizophrenia diagnosis mentioned by Kevin T. was not confirmed by his doctor. Investigators also reported finding 30 stickers made by him at his home and referring to the far-right Rassemblement National party.
A court in Avignon, in southern France, gave Patrick O’Brien, a 60-year-old Irish citizen, a six-month suspended prison sentence on Friday after convicting him of making antisemitically motivated death threats and of justifying crimes against humanity, a criminal offense in France. O’Brien had threatened to kill a Jewish couple from Australia during a confrontation at a supermarket.
Germany
Berlin’s leading far-left mayoral candidate, Elif Eralp, inadvertently admitted during a recent interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel that she was afraid of some of her supporters due to their ties to the Hamas terror group.
One could ask, what might politicians from a far-right party — as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution describes Alternative for Germany (AfD), write to one another?
More than 400,000 emails exchanged by AfD members between March 2013 and September 2026, effectively covering the party’s entire history, have appeared online.
Greece
Ekathimerini: Police unable to block Kasidiaris speech in Thessaloniki, minister says
Police could not ban convicted neo-Nazi Ilias Kasidiaris’ Thessaloniki speech, Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis said, because the Thessaloniki first-instance court president said canceling an indoor event is illegal.
Norway
Norway must strengthen teacher training to tackle antisemitism, a European human rights watchdog said on Wednesday, warning that Jewish pupils have faced increased harassment and bullying since October 7, 2023.
United Kingdom
Reuters: Britain bars entry to Swedish academic ahead of appearance with Palestine Action founder
Swedish climate academic Andreas Malm said on Friday he had been denied entry to Britain, where he was due to speak alongside the co-founder of Palestine Action, a group banned as a terrorist organisation. Malm, an academic at Sweden’s Lund University, has been a vocal critic of Israel and expressed strong support for the Palestinian movement.
BBC: MI5 false evidence in neo-Nazi spy case a serious failing, says intelligence watchdog
The man responsible for overseeing the conduct of the UK's intelligence services has said that MI5 lying to multiple courts while defending a violent neo-Nazi spy is as “serious as anything” he has ever dealt with. “Oversight depends on candour,” said investigatory powers commissioner Lord Leveson. “Failings of candour undermine the entire basis of oversight and accountability.”
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Taliban Minister, UNAMA Chief Discuss UN Role In International Engagement
Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s Minister of Refugees, and Rabab Fatima, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, discussed UNAMA's role in facilitating engagement between the Taliban and the international community.
8AM Media: Sources: Pakistani Fighter Jets Bomb a Taliban Base in Paktika
Local sources have reported that Pakistani fighter jets bombed a Taliban military base in the Shakin district of Paktika province. Sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Friday, October 30, that Pakistani fighter jets targeted a Taliban base near the Angoor Ada border crossing on Thursday afternoon.
The Afghanistan United Front, led by Sami Sadat, says it carried out 16 attacks against Taliban forces across eight provinces in the past week. According to statements issued between 22 and 29 October, 18 Taliban members were killed and nine wounded.
Afghanistan International: Anti-Taliban Fighters Obtain Advanced Anti-Drone Technology, Says AFF
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) said on Thursday it had acquired advanced anti-drone technology to strengthen its defences. A senior member told Afghanistan International that Taliban drone strikes had caused casualties among its forces in Nuristan and Badakhshan.
8AM Media: Sources: Taliban Member Kills Two, Injures Three in Badakhshan Shooting
Local sources say that two people have been killed and three others injured after a Taliban member opened fire in the Argo district of Badakhshan province. Sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Thursday, October 29, that the incident occurred three nights earlier in the village of Ghozak Dara in Argo district.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Times of Israel: Israel said to raze home of gunmen who carried out deadly Hebron shooting attack
Palestinian media outlets report that the Israeli army razed the home of the two gunmen who carried out last week’s deadly shooting attack against soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron.
Times of Israel: IDF says Hamas commander who held a dozen Israelis hostage killed in Gaza strike
A Hamas commander who took part in holding numerous hostages in captivity in Gaza during the war was killed in a strike in the Strip’s center yesterday, the military announces.
Times of Israel: IDF announces four Hamas operatives killed in southern Gaza strikes
Four Hamas operatives were killed in strikes in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the military announces. One strike in Khan Younis killed Mohammed Alyan al-Bayouk, identified by the IDF as a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force.
Times of Israel: Activists arrested after footage shows settlers beating them in West Bank
Jasper Nathaniel and Andrey Kharzhanovsky, journalists and activists who assist Palestinians in the West Bank, were arrested by police overnight Wednesday in the South Hebron Hills after footage showed them being attacked by two settlers, at least one of them armed.
Jordan
VOA: Jordan’s Strikes Highlight Persistent ISIS Threat, Fuel Tensions with Syria
Jordanian airstrikes targeting Islamic State (ISIS) positions in southern Syria have underscored the continuing threat posed by the militant group, with security analysts warning that regional conflicts, political instability and economic hardship could create conditions for its resurgence.
Iran
Iran International: IRGC says third tanker caught fire after unauthorized passage through Hormuz
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy said on Friday that a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of oil was left burning at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Air Force intercepted and warded off a "hostile" fighter jet over Qeshm Island in the early hours of Friday morning, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
The Iranian regime is unable to pay its troops due to Operation Economic Outcast, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Thursday interview with CNBC. “It makes them unattentive to what's happening, and then the Ayatollah is isolated. But the rubber is meeting the road; they're not able to pay their troops,” Bessent said. “Importantly, they’re not able to get dollars, so they're not able to replenish.”
Iraq
Kurdistan24: Masked Man Arrested After Threatening Mosque Worshippers in Kifri in ISIS's Name
Security forces have arrested an armed individual who threatened worshippers at two mosques in Kifri district, within the Garmiyan Independent Administration, in the name of the Islamic State (ISIS) during Friday prayers.
Lebanon
Afghanistan International: Lebanon indicts eight over explosives linked to Hezbollah
Lebanon’s judiciary has indicted eight people in a case involving confiscated explosives belonging to Hezbollah, Al Jazeera reported.
Naharnet: Gemayel urges Aoun, Salam not to yield to blackmail over Hezbollah explosives
Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel demanded on Friday the referral of Hezbollah’s explosives case to the Judicial Council, urging the President and Prime Minister not to yield to any threats or blackmail.
Naharnet: 13 charged in Hezbollah explosives case
Government Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Claude Ghanem has charged 13 individuals in the case of the Hezbollah explosives truck that was stopped in Dahr al-Baidar, the National News Agency reported on Friday.
Naharnet: Amal and Hezbollah face growing strain over war concerns, report says
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is trying to dissuade Hezbollah from joining a new support war in case of an eventual Iran war, Nidaa Al-Watan newspaper reported Friday. The daily claimed there is frustration among the Shiite community and fear of a rift between Amal and Hezbollah should the armed group choose war once again. “Silent disagreements (between Amal and Hezbollah) could turn into an open political confrontation,” the daily said.
Naharnet: Senior political source lashes out at Qassem over latest statement
The statement issued by Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Wednesday “constitutes a flagrant departure from the collective national will, a further persistence in imposing a fait accompli, and a continuation of adventures that have brought Lebanon nothing but destruction, displacement and collapse,” a senior political source said.
Naharnet: Explosives and weapons seized in Tripoli
Weapons and explosives have been seized by General Security in the northern city of Tripoli. “As part of proactive security efforts and under the supervision of the competent judiciary, the General Directorate of General Security executed a series of raids in the city of Tripoli. These operations resulted in the seizure of quantities of explosives ... and detonators used in manufacturing improvised explosive devices (IEDs), alongside large quantities of military weapons, ammunition and grenades,” General Security said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia
AFP: Saudi coalition says intercepted Houthi drone in Mecca region
The Saudi-led coalition said on Friday it intercepted and destroyed a drone fired by Yemen's Houthis in the Mecca region, with the group later denying it targeted Islam's holiest city.
Yemen
Reuters: Yemen’s hospitals buckle as fighting escalates
The UN and aid agencies say health needs in the besieged city of Taiz are critical, amid acute shortages of medicine, oxygen, surgical gloves, anesthetic and fuel. Hospitals near Yemen's front lines are facing large influxes of patients, treating up to 700 war wounded in a single week, according to the Red Cross.
YemenOnline: Airstrike Destroys Houthi Missile Launch Platform South of Taiz
Military aircraft carried out a strike that destroyed a missile launch platform established by Houthi forces in the Al-Sharaj area of Al-Zaza’a, south of Taiz governorate, according to military sources.
YemenOnline: Yemeni Armed Forces Investigating Reports of Houthi Use of Toxic Gas in Taiz
The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces said the military is treating with utmost seriousness reports alleging that the Iran-backed Houthi militia has used toxic gases in the southwestern governorate of Taiz, describing the accusations as a matter of significant concern that requires thorough verification and investigation.
Nigeria
Reuters: Nigeria says troops kill 48 Islamist fighters after attacks in Borno, Yobe bases
Nigerian troops, backed by air support, repelled attacks by Islamist fighters on military positions in the northeastern Borno and Yobe states, killing 48 insurgents, the military said on Friday.
South Africa
Daily Maverick: Watch – The pipeline between US white supremacists and the SA right
Decades before Ernst Roets lobbied the US, a little-known Kempton Park woman linked the AWB to global neo-Nazis – a story that sheds light on international support for the farm murder cause.
Australia
The federal government’s antisemitism envoy has proposed an “external independent ombudsman” to monitor ABC and SBS coverage of the war in Gaza, and a requirement that all visa applicants be screened for “the risk of holding antisemitic views.”
A Canberra man who stuck white supremacist stickers across an Indigenous learning centre at the Australian National University (ANU) has been fined $5,000 and could face prison time for performing the Nazi salute.
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